littleBits' Synth Kit: A Modular Synth for People Intimidated by Modular Synths

We often blow off doing things we know are good for us because we know they’re a drag. For some people this means learning a second language; for some it means keeping an eye on blood glucose levels. But these days, no matter what tedioius task you're struggling to accomplish, some startup's developed an app to make it seem fun enough that you might actually do it.

I’m one of what is undoubtedly a large number of musicians who’s wanted to get into modular synthesizers but haven’t because, admittedly... learning how they work sounds complicated and boring. Traditional instruments like guitars, drums, and pianos make intuitive sense, and anyone with the slightest shred of innate musical talent should be able to figure them out—to some extent—without any outside help. Modular synthesizers, on the other hand, present newcomers with a steep learning curve. To me, it's always seemed like the difference between learning to drive and learning to rebuild a carburetor.

The Synth Kit developed by Korg and NYC-based littleBits, which makes a line of snap-together electronics projects, is the least intimidating modular synth that I’ve encountered. Each kit comes with an assortment of typical modular synth components (oscillators, envelopes, filters), plus a miniature keyboard controller, a very basic sequencer, and a speaker. The components are small enough that you can hold several in your hand at once, and the whole thing runs off a 9-volt battery.

Instead of connecting each component to the next using cables, the Synth Kit's components snap together magnetically. Each kit comes with a helpful guidebook that offers suggestions about different configurations, but the ease with which the pieces can be reordered and swapped in and out encourages trial and error, which is how pretty much everyone—even the people who read manuals—learn what different parts of a modular synth are for. (You don’t need to learn what a filter cutoff knob actually does to the audio signal in order to figure out how it affects the sound itself.)

The Synth Kit’s modules are radically simple—mostly just a couple knobs and/or switches apiece. This also makes things easier (and more fun) for the novice user. With such a limited number of controls the odds are much greater that adjusting one at random will tweak the sound in a noticeable way.

As dumbed-down as the Synth Kit was designed to be, it’s still a genuine modular analog synthesizer, just like it says on the box. Like its even simpler predecessor the Korg Monotron, it’s actually a legitimately decent monophonic synthesizer, despite its functional limitations.

littleBits: Synth Kit Test

After spending less than an hour with it I plugged it into GarageBand and made the above (admittedly pretty basic) track using nothing but different Synth Kit configurations and a tiny bit of GB compression and EQ on the "drums," which took me about 45 minutes total. It could probably have done it in half the time I hadn’t had so many takes ruined by the magnetic connections between the modules breaking, but this is what I mean when I’m talking about limitations.

After spending some time with the Synth Kit I’m not about to go splurge on a Eurorack setup or anything, but that’s mostly a factor of my personal finances. (I really should start using that gamify-your-budget app that I have on my phone...) But I do feel like I have a considerably more developed practical grasp of how analog synthesis works. The next time I’m confronted with a big, complicated synth with more than six or eight knobs I probably won’t know exactly what I’m doing—but at least I’ll know where to start.